Infection
by SnareRifle
Summary: Earth's Mightiest Heroes are caught up in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.


The infection began four months ago. HYDRA was testing new biochemicals on human test subjects and had been experimenting to create a new drug to use as a war tactic, advantage, and weapon. Naturally, SHIELD agents intercepted their plan at the source. Infiltrating the laboratory and test site, agents were able to rescue the hostages and destroy the building. Unfortunately, it was destroyed with all the data related to the infection as well. Soon enough, the survivors were given medical attention, but when they were tested, no known problems were detected. They had been stamped clean and well, but only hours later they would show signs of high fevers, bloody noses, dizziness, excessive sweating, headaches, and would eventually fall into comas. Just hours later after falling into a coma, they would awaken as mindless flesh eating zombies. With no known antidote, the newly awaken zombies were able to spread the infection throughout the building's occupants via blood fusion, basically when the infection somehow enters the victim's blood stream. From there, the infection just continued to spread until the whole country had been consumed by the infection. Further investigations before the grid was destroyed showed that HYDRA had launched multiple test missiles containing the infection throughout the world to see how the virus would spread. However, the tests had gotten out of hand and soon enough most of the world had fallen victim to the virus. There are still survivors fighting, but the only way to end this infectious apocalypse is to survive until all the zombies are killed off or naturally dies from decay, or to find a cure.

"The house is cleared out. It's safe to enter. There's about 2 weeks worth of nonperishable food available, but is too much to bring with us if we continue travelling. Maybe it'd be be better if we made a shelter here, huh Steve?" Tony buzzed through, his voice ringing throughout the Avengers' earpieces. Since the grid went down, major sources of communication and most wireless technology became useless. Bruce and Tony were able to wire the Avengers' earpieces in a way that they could communicate with each other in short distances. "Affirmative. We'll use the building as a temporary shelter, we're coming in." Steve spoke into the small earpiece. He turned to the rest of the team staked out under some bushes. "Clint, bring Bruce inside and give him some medical attention, I'll be there to help in a minute. Natasha and Thor, go secure the perimeter and start barricading windows. Pepper, you and Tony take an inventory on the food inside and search for any other useful resources throughout the house. Avengers, Disperse!" They all nodded and went off to do their jobs.

Tony was fiddling with the electrical box when Pepper found him. Since the grid went down, Tony had no access to his Ironman suits, leaving him just as venerable as the rest of the team. However, his exceeding knowledge in technology as well as the countless zombie killing games he plays in his free time made him a much-needed asset. Pepper was just as much of a survivor as each of the Earth's Mightiest Heroes and was doing well keeping up with them in the apocalyptic planet. Even though they had defeated an army of Chitauri invading the Earth before, they were barely a match for a spreading infection and hordes of zombies wherever they turned.

"I found a couple boxes medical supplies and a few bottles of aspirin. And if we reserve the food we have, we can stretch it to around three weeks. I also found a map of the town, there's a drug store a few miles from here that we can raid for any supplies."

"Mhm, yea. Sure, Pep." Tony didn't look up from the wires. He was too busy trying to get power back in the house so they could at least see when it was dark.

"Tony, are you even listening to me?" Pepper threw a box of gauges at Tony, which he unintendedly dodged as he leaned in close to the box to get a closer look at the mess before him.

"Now if I just cross this wire here then... Ah! There we go!" Lights throughout the house flickered on as he took a stance of achievement towards Pepper.

"You're so arrogant, you know that?"

"Yes, I'm quite aware." Tony gave out a grin, but quickly disappeared soon after. His eyes narrowed, trying to focus on something in the darkness behind Pepper.

"What? Did I say something to bother you?" Pepper asked, adding just a little sarcasm.

"Pepper, duck!" In an instant Tony swung the assault rifle from over his shoulder and prepared to shoot. Pepper glanced over her shoulder to find 5 or 6 zombies sprinting towards them and dropped the supplies in her hands, desperately trying to reach for the pistol in her pocket. Tony already was aiming down the sights and shot two zombies in the head. Blood flew out the back of their heads, splattering onto the zombies behind them, but they kept running even nearer. Pepper got her pistol loaded and shot a zombie once in the stomach, and again in the head. It fell only a few yards away from where she stood, hitting the concrete sidewalk, blood flying into the air and falling again in red rain. Both of them simultaneously hit another zombie, Pepper shooting for the chest, and Tony finishing it by shooting it in the neck. The zombie fell in the grass; the impact caused the decaying head to detach from the rest of the body, rolling towards Pepper. One sight of the decapitated head made Pepper puke when it stopped by her foot.

"Pepper, look out!" Tony ran past Pepper in a blur as she regained her senses, only to puke again when she set eyes on the zombie head next to her. This time though she kicked the rotting lump of flesh away from her and the building. Tony bashed the stock of his gun into an incoming zombie's skull. Part of its face collapsed, spilling its blood and guts onto Tony's clothes. Dislodging his gun from the rotting head, Tony kneed the zombie in the stomach before backing off, allowing the fully dead corpse to fall to the ground. He made sure he wouldn't get back up by smashing the remains of the skull with the stock of the rifle, shattering it. Sections of its brain and a pool of blood oozed out, staining the pavement a deep red as Tony walked back towards Pepper, cleaning off zombie blood from his gun.

"Gotta keep your head in the game," Tony offered a hand with a cocky smile and helped her back onto her feet. Pepper wiped off remaining vomit aftertaste from her mouth and gave tony a light punch to the arm. "You just want the kill streak." Tony chuckled, "Well let's get inside with those supplies and we can plan that raid. And yes, I do aim to have the highest kill steak and be MVP of the team."

"You don't even care that this is a matter of life or death? This isn't a video game, you don't get extra lives." Pepper began picking up the supplies she dropped.

"I've had more than one near death experiences, I'm sure I can handle this. I'm made of an iron heart," he tapped the reactor arc, his artificial heart that has been keeping him alive since being captured by terrorists.

"You also have an iron head, you're so stubborn. I can barely get anything into that dense head of yours!" She stood up and turned to go inside, not even looking back at Tony.

"You're mad at me now? After I saved our lives?"

"I'm not mad, I'm just annoyed. Sometimes you just don't think straight."

"Pep, don't walk away from this, Pepper! Ugh!" he ran through the door, running after her.

"Hang on Bruce, we're gonna get your wounds bandaged and fixed right up," Clint was carrying a barely conscious Bruce into the house, Steve covering his back. They headed to the living room, furniture was thrown around everywhere, and glass pieces and bloodstains covered the floor. Several trails of blood lead to the back exit of the house, Tony had removed dead zombie bodies from the house when he scouted it, making the current living quarters a little bit more bearable. The smell of death still lingered throughout the house, especially in the living room, where most of the bodies had lay for several days, maybe even weeks. Steve flipped over the couch; it had stuffing coming out of tears and dried blood splatters all over the cushions. Clint carefully lowered Bruce onto the couch, first carefully laying his wounded leg onto the cushions then guiding his head onto one of the arms. Steve then returned with a first aid kit, and was dabbing a wet gauze on Bruce's leg wound. Bruce clenched Clint's hand with his own, muscles tightened, his face scrunched at the sting.

"Hang in there Bruce, you're gonna be alright." His eyes gleamed in worry for his lover. Bruce's pulse began going up as Steve was stitching up the infected area. Green flashed through his eyes as he clenched Clint's hand tighter, and Clint only clenched back.

"Bruce stay with us, please just hang on for a little bit longer." His eyes were tearing up as he tried to force tears back. Bruce was fighting the urge to Hulk out, twisting and turning as he groaned in pain on the couch. Steve was having trouble keeping a straight stitch from all of Bruce's movements.

"Hold still Bruce, I can't stitch up the wound if you keep moving. Just try to stay calm," Steve aborted his stitching to try to hold Bruce down as Clint was still trying to keep the other guy from letting loose.

"Just breathe, calming breaths. That's it, focus. Happy thoughts, Bruce, think happy thoughts." We was trying to stay calm, keeping a steady tone in his voice so Bruce would settle down, but inside his heart pounded in terror, worried for the sake of the poor doctor.

Bruce was beginning to settle down, his breathing became more controlled and his eyes were focused on the ceiling as he tried to steady his heart rate. Clint and Steve both gave out a relieving sigh, they didn't need the Hulk destroying the newly found base, and it would have made his leg injury much worse than it already was. Bruce had gotten his leg caught in barbwire and tripped onto it, pushing the metal deeper, while escaping a group of zombies. He had then Hulked out, and the sheer rage of the Hulk's smashing had caused more stress on the wound. Clint was now stroking Bruce's dark shaggy hair as they kept eye contact. Steve returned to his stitching job and was finished in no time, and proceeded to wrap it up completely to avoid contact with the zombie infection. Bruce was just glad Clint had been there the whole time next to him, keeping him in check.

"I'm glad you're here, I'm so sorry to have worried you." He then grabbed the marksman in for a tight hug. Clint soon broke the moment and gazed into the doctor's rich hazel eyes, "I'll always be by your side no matter what happens."

He then leaned in for a passionate kiss. Bruce didn't resist, letting his eyelids drop as he felt their tongues dance, holding Clint closer. When their lips finally parted, Bruce touched his forehead to Clint's, once again glaring into the hawk's eyes, and they both smiled.

"Thor, don't use your hammer to place the nails! You'll make the whole building collapse!" Natasha advised, just as Thor was about to hammer a nail through wooden boards. The two were tasked with barricading the windows, and since Thor was the stronger of the two, he was in charge of nailing down wooden planks onto the windows to provide a study defense against attacking zombies. "Use this one, and don't pound with ALL your might, just enough so the plank won't budge if something tries to break it off." Natasha threw a steel hammer towards Thor.

Catching the tiny work tool, Thor was astonished by it's tiny size and weight. "How will I fend off undead spawns with such a puny weapon?"

Natasha dropped more planks at Thor's feet, "You don't use this hammer to fight. It's to hammer nails. Trust me, it's the perfect size to get that job right, now hurry up and get these boards up, night's about to fall. We don't want to be outside, it's too dangerous."

She began hammering down boards on the other windows, and was out working Thor. Noticing that the Russian was beating the Son of Odin, Thor took this as a friendly competition, taking the Midgardian hammer and placing nails three at a time to catch up. With his excitement, he missed one of the nails and instead slammed the hammer right into his thumb. Thor gave out a yelp that caused a flash of lighting to fill the crimson sky. Soon after a boom of thunder and a whimper of pain followed. Natasha couldn't help but give a slight smirk as she took the hammer from Thor. "Such excruciating pain a small hammer can create." He examined his thumb, which was red and throbbing, but Natasha was slightly amused by the demigod's mistake.

"Go inside and get that taken cared of. I'll finish off here." She took a couple more boards and went to finish boarding the rest of the windows as Thor went to get help for his throbbing thumb.

Natasha came inside after her shift of being lookout. The Avengers plus Pepper were gathered in the living room, warming up by the fireplace. Thor had an ice pack on his thumb, which he mentioned was quickly healing. Clint was lying across Bruce's lap trying to get some rest as the doctor was stroking the marksman's hair and reading a book. Tony and Steve both cuddled by the fire fast asleep on top of each other, while Pepper was on the couch asleep. The Russian gave the sleeping beauty a quick kiss on the forehead before joining the rest of the Avengers near the fire.

"Glad you could join us, Tasha." Bruce looked up from his book and offered her a bowl containing rice and beans. "We tried keeping it warm by the fire, but it might be a bit cold now."

She gave a slight smirk and took the bowl. "No, it's fine. Any kind of food would be enough." She looked down at the bowl. It's been months since any of them had a decent meal, and days since they have eaten a real meal. They had been scavenging off of snack vendors and Twinkie trucks since they've been travelling. No place is safe, only safer.

"Well, I guess it's my turn for sentry duty then." Clint had woken up when Bruce moved to give Natasha her food. "I'll be up in the nest if you guys need me." He took his bow, quiver of bows, and a sniper rifle just incase before heading for the roof. Natasha also handed him a floodlight on his way out. "To keep you company." She stood up and headed to the couch, where she squeezed next to pepper, trying not to wake her. She let her eyes drop, and Bruce returned to his book while Clint took his spot watching for the undead.

Clint had been up on the roof for 3 hours. He sat on the edge of the building, bow and arrow resting on his knees, but in a way where if he spotted anything, he was ready to draw. Every time he saw a lurker in radius, he would shoot it down silently. He was by far the best for this post, which is why he would have the most shifts. Not that it really bothered him except for when he wanted to be with Bruce. Sometimes the doc would come up and stay with him when he was on duty, and he would do the same. Bruce wasn't the best with firearms, so the master marksman would finish off anything that was missed.

But tonight was cold, and he was even a bit lonely. He knew Bruce wouldn't come up because he was still recovering from his injury. His mind drifted off worrying about him. What would he do if Bruce got the infection? He barely made it to save him from a group of zombies when he tripped on the barbwire. What if a zombie had bit him while he was Hulking out? If he had gotten there any later...

Clint gripped his bow tighter. "Damn it, Bruce. Why'd you have to fall on that wire? I should have seen it, should have warned you about the hazards. It was a metal scrap yard for fuck's sake!" His head cleared instantly when he saw movement in the corner of his eye. He pulled his bow back and began locating his target. One of the undead was wandering the street. A street lamp flickered on and off as the shifting body came closer, dragging one foot past another. Clint evened his shot and let loose. The arrow flew threw the air, gracefully riding the wind and piercing its target below. It penetrated the eye, pushing deeper as it entered the brain and cracking the skull. The undead lurker staggered and fell onto its face. The shaft snapped on impact, but pushed the arrowed further, causing it to break out the back of the head, bulging upwards towards the sky. Blood bubbled as it escaped through the wound and the body fell lifeless on the street. Clint took another arrow and readied it on the bow's shelf and resumed his passive position. It would be a long night ahead of him.

Morning arose on the mostly deserted town. Clint came down with an empty quiver and half a magazine of sniper bullets. Seemed he made a good call bringing a back up weapon. He was dead tired from staying awake a good chunk of the night and was deserving of rest. The rest of the team was awake and preparing for a raid. Pepper told them earlier that morning that there was a drug store a few miles southeast of their location and they could make a stop and be back by sundown. Bruce wasn't well enough to be walking on his leg yet, so he would stay with Clint while the rest ventured out into town.

Armed with several firearms and miscellaneous melee weapons, the remaining five entered the infested streets. Steve would always take scouting position, placing himself several yards ahead of the rest of the group to scan the upcoming turns, alleys, and other zombie hiding areas. His experiences in the war made him a very strategical soldier. He would limit the use his gun to save ammo, mostly using his shield for close range and silent kills. He would make use of his environment, scouting a large area before calling it clear for the rest of his team, always ensuring their safety. He would easily risk his own for the survival of his team, making him the ideal choice to be up front.

Then came Thor and Pepper, they usually didn't do much except keep their guns ready if zombies popped out from nowhere. Of course, Thor would always take the biggest gun, usually a sniper, and use it as a melee weapon, hacking and slashing its stock against groups of zombies. He preferred the Mjolnir to anything, but was advised by the rest of the Avengers that if he summoned lightning too much, it would attract zombies. This however, didn't stop him from occasional uses when big hordes came their way. Pepper on the other hand, was hesitant to fire. She would stun momentarily in fear when encountering the undead before firing. At first, she was trigger happy, shooting anything that groaned, smelled like death, or moved. But after a couple days she was out of ammo and the whole team smelled pretty disgusting, so she had to change her tactics. Putting the two together would balance their weaknesses out.

In the back were Tony and Natasha. Both were excellent zombie killing experts. Careful to make precise shots to save bullets and always aware of their surroundings, they stayed in the back to cover any incoming crawlers from behind their backs. Naturally, Natasha was expertly trained in this way since she was a young child, while Tony just spent his extra hours raging with a controller in his hands. Of course, he sometimes took this as another level of a game, always wanting to get more kills than Natasha. His cockiness worried the whole team, especially Steve and Pepper. Natasha took it upon herself to back Tony when he needed it, but the genius was also analytical and took the situation very seriously. Pepper always told her to keep an eye on him, but she knew the man of iron could handle his own.

They reached the drug store much faster than they anticipated. Steve had located a pickup truck that still had a reasonable amount of fuel in it. Tony went right to work hotwiring it and signaled everyone to get in. Tony drove while Pepper gave directions, while Thor, Steve, and Natasha were in the bed of the truck, keeping an eye out for the undead. Travelling by vehicle cut their travel time substantially and saving much of their needed energy. This also allowed them to bring more supplies back to Bruce and Clint back at the shelter.

Inside, a few ceiling lights flickered on and off, while others hung, being only supported by electrical wires. Steve and Tony moved off in opposite directions, scanning the store for any hidden zombies. Thor, Pepper, and Natasha got to work taking garbage bags and filling them with any needed supplies from bandages, water jugs, batteries, flashlights, and even Thor's much enjoyed Poptarts. They cleared racks of beef jerky and energy bars, as they were good sources of nonperishable food when travelling. They even got a few packages of raw meat, which had already begun rotting, as possible decoys and distractions for the zombies.

Steve entered the storage area in the back of the store. It was completely dark and silent. He took a flashlight and held it in one had, his gun rested on his arm, loaded and ready to shoot. A noise echoed behind him, where racks fell onto the floor. Steve twirled around and walked over to assess the damage. Open boxes and cracked bottles scattered the floor. Soda fizzed as it spilled onto the tile, making the floor slippery. A hand grabbed his shoulder, clenching his shirt tight. Terrified, Steve spun around pointing his pistol into the face of the unknown. The undead corpse lunged its mouth towards the soldier, eager to make a meal out of him. Steve pushed the pistol into the incoming mouth, pulling the trigger. Blood spat out the back of the head, and the grip on his shoulder loosened. The corpse leaned its dead weight onto Steve; blood fell from its mouth, running down onto his shirt and arm. He pushed it off him, leaving the body on the floor with the broken glass and cardboard. His gun was clogged with blood and his arm was nearly dowsed in the think red liquid, dripping from his elbow. Tony entered with his gun up; ready to take out a zombie that was attacking his beloved blonde. Seeing the body completely dead on the ground next to Steve, he ran assessing the blonde, making sure his partner wasn't hurt. "Did it bite you?"

"No, but my pistol is down for the count." Steve took out the magazine and stuffed it in his pocket. He took a final look at the blood-drenched pistol and lodged it back into the corpse's mouth, where it belonged. Tony had to chuckle a bit at the scene before them, and then took Steve in for a tight, meaningful hug.

"I'm glad your safe." Steve took his bloody arms and wrapped them around Tony, squeezing him hard. Neither of them cared, they were both glad to still be with each other. "Zzrt. Steve, Tony. We have all the supplies loaded, let's get out of this hellhole and head back." Natasha had called in via radio to confirm that they were finished looting the store. Steve broke the hug and looked at Tony. "You heard the woman. Let's get out of here."

Tony Laughed, "As I recall. She mentioned this place as a hellhole, so we better get out of here fast." He handed Steve his pistol and they both ran out and jumped in the truck. Revving the engine, Tony spun the truck around and headed back to where Bruce and Clint were sheltered.

Tony was focused on the road, trying to avoid running into abandoned vehicle scattered along the road. Thor stuck his head through the back window of the pickup.

"Stop this chariot!" He bellowed into Tony's ear, and his natural instinct was to slam onto the brakes. Thor flew forward, slamming his shoulders into the glass, cracking it.

"What the hell, Tony!" Steve was gasping for air as his head lay over the edge of the truck. His hands were tightly gripped onto the side for he nearly fell out when the truck came to an immediate halt. Natasha, who was also in the bed of the pickup, had remained unmoved throughout the incident.

"Thor, would you explain why you had to yell in my ear to make me stop the goddamn truck?" He turned around hoping for an explanation from the demigod, but he was no longer lodged in the glass. He had already jumped out of the bed, Mjolnir in hand, and was running towards a group of zombies circled around something, or someone. "Damn it, Thor!" Tony, Natasha, and Pepper jumped out of the truck in hopes to catch up. Tony glanced back at Steve, who was still recovering from his recent traumatic incident. "Steve stay here and keep an eye on the supplies."

Far ahead, Thor was a zombie-killing maniac as he ran full force toward the gathering of undead. The sheer rage of the Asgardian made his movements on the ever-stretching field ever so graceful. The soft breeze made blades of grass dance as decapitated heads flew, spatting blood as it twirled in circles in the air. Vicious red rain fell onto the innocent green field below, staining it with the screams of undead souls, where the God of Thunder continued to fight. Hordes of undead came from all directions, but he continued to keep them at bay, protecting the wounded body that lay by his feet.

By the time the others caught up to him, a circle of decapitated, rotting limbs lay on top of each other, guts still seeping out where they were fractured. In the center was the cause of all the destruction, who was kneeling next to a rather familiar figure. Thor stroked the wounded man's hair before picking him up, carrying his back and legs on his arms. He turned around to his companions; proceeding to reveal the identity of the man he killed nearly a hundred of the undead to save. It was none other than the God of Mischief, Loki, who rested in the arms of his brother.

"Dear friends, my brother is wounded and unconscious from attacks of the undead minions." He looked at his brother, his body scratched and scrapped. His clothing torn and ripped to shreds, revealing cuts and bruises that covered the Jotun's frail body. That such viscous creatures could harm the likes of his brother enraged Thor, but was satisfied that they have paid with their lives for their mistake. His eyes returned to the three, burning in vengeance. However, he spoke in a fragile and concerned tone, "He does not appear to be bitten, but is severely wounded and is in great need of medical assistance. Please friends, take him in to seek medical aid."

Tony looked at the injured Jotun and his Asgardian brother. The Avengers hasn't had very pleasing encounters with Loki in the past when he attempted to gain control of Earth with an army of Chitauri, but it seemed Loki was now one of the ants being stepped on by a zombie boot. He glanced at Pepper and Natasha, they both shrugged at him. He gave out a sigh and placed a hand on Thor's shoulder, "Ok, we'll check him out to see if he contracted the infection. If he hasn't like you claimed, he can stay with us. BUT, you're in charge of keeping an eye on him and making sure he's in check. One foul play and we'll tie him to a lamp post to be feasted on by zombies."

Thor gave a sigh of relief and cracked a smile. He looked back at his unconscious brother resting in his arms, "Do not worry dearest brother, my friends will offer you medical aid until you have regained your strength."

The truck pulled up to the shelter with ours of daylight to spare. Immediately the Avengers got to work, they had to use the sunlight they had left to their advantage. Tony helped Steve get cleaned up, dried blood would be difficult to remove, ensuring none of the infection would remain on the super soldier once he was cleaned up. Natasha and Pepper took the truck to find a gas station and refuel while they could still can. Clint was awake and was taking to account the supplies that were brought back. Bruce did his best to help Loki while staying off his leg; after all he was still a doctor. Thor had agreed to stand watch outside the house, though he was persistent on wanting to stay by Loki's side. However, it was Loki himself who had awoken and convinced Thor to take post.

"I'll be fine brother. I promise not to hurt your friends. They helped save me from those savaged beasts in my time of need." He had previously believed that the zombies were merely humans in need of ruling, but from the beating they gave him proved that they were neither human nor capable of being ruled. Zombies were mindless undead that's only purpose was to satisfy its undying lust for human flesh. He then concluded he would stay with the Earth's Mightiest Heroes and contribute himself to them in order to defeat the unstoppable force against them. It was best for him to form a temporary alliance with the Avengers, though it was unlike him, it was the only way to survive. He too was vulnerable to the infection, a survivor as they say.

Loki later proposed a treaty when they were all gathered by the warmth of the fire. It was discussed by the whole group and came down to a unanimous decision that Loki was allowed to stay with them. Thor gave him a hard slap on his still aching back, but apologized after. He called for a feast, and they celebrated by opening cans of beef ravioli and heated it in the fire. When they all settled down, Steve was heading out to stand guard when he offered Loki to come along so he could teach him to use firearms. Loki was hesitant to answer, unsure to trust his new teammate, but agreed to follow. "You will not hold a grudge on me, Stark? If I spent the evening with the super soldier? He would only be teaching me how to use Midgardian weaponry so I may be well prepared for another attack from those horrid beasts."

"Nahh, go ahead. Just make sure you hold him back too much, he still has to watch out for any zombies." They both gave off a laugh, but then Tony's face became serious. "Just remember my clause for any foul play. One wrong move and your gone." They held a stare for a moment. Tony made sure his point had gotten across to the mischievous demigod, and Loki seeing if the man of iron was bluffing. Tony broke the stare with a crooked smile, "Well, have fun! Don't get anyone but zombies killed!" A slight chill fell upon Loki, he wasn't sure if it was from the man's intimidation, or if it was from his sudden changes in tone. It confused even the God of Mischief himself, but he quickly shook it off and ran to catch up to the super soldier.


End file.
